A Rose Trapped Inside a Fist

Disclaimer: I disclaim owning anything of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Hobbit. I only own my own characters brought forth from my own wild imagination (Narloth, Erebwen, Rhovan, Belegor, Tindir, Dagorast and Ashare).

I'd really like some reviews! Like it? Hate it? Like or hate the characters? Even if you just give a short review consisting of one word, I'd like to hear your thoughts! I'm hearing a lot of crickets! :)

Chapter Four- A Guilty Predator

I wake up and head to our practice area. I'm early and Rhovan won't meet me for another few minutes so I stretch my muscles and warm up. I close my eyes, drinking in the peace of the birds chirping and singing, relishing the feel of the wind on my tanned skin and the light of the sun's first rays hitting my face. I take a deep breath and slowly open my eyes. Then I see him.

A hulking mass of muscle- Morlyg. He is headed east. Towards Erebwen's home.

His dark hair shines and his gait is long and quick.

I suddenly feel my resolve leaving me and feel my blood begin to boil. And then I'm running, racing towards his bulky form with my only thoughts on how I can hurt him.

He sees me coming, turning to face me but does not expect my fist landing squarely on his jaw. My brain, trying to remain logical tells me that one punch is enough but my adrenaline and anger have taken hold of me.

I take in Morlyg's stance, noticing that in his surprise he has left everything but his face, defenseless. I take advantage of this and bring my knee into his stomach, receiving a grunt from my opponent. I raise my arm, swinging towards his face again but this time Morlyg is prepared and he blocks my blow. His surprise has left and now he is livid. He raises his own fist and I block my face but he isn't aiming for my face. I realize this too late and his own fist collides with my stomach sending me backwards into the air. I land, sprawled out against the ground and quickly pull myself up, despite the lack of air I'm receiving after his punch.

Morlyg steps toward me, smiling and I kick my foot into his inner thigh near his knee cap. He gasps in pain, taking a couple of steps back to regain his footing. I charge forward and the heel of my fist hits his nose. In return his arm connects with my cheek, making it sting and turn red. Heat rushes to my brain in another surge of anger.

I hear someone running towards us, probably to stop the fight and I muster all my remaining strength into my next swing, a right hook that smashes into Morlyg's face and he's out.

He collides with the ground and I gather my breath, turning around, wondering who saw the fight. I'm probably going to get in trouble but right now I don't care.

I find Rhovan, staring at me in shock. I wait for him to yell at me but he doesn't seem angry at all. In fact, he seems almost proud.

"Is he out?" he asks.

I nod, trying to reign in the anger I'm still feeling.

Rhovan takes a step towards me and lifts my chin, his eyes taking in the damage.

If I thought I was mad, the look on Rhovan's face made my own pale in comparison. His eyes are sharp as a dagger and then he blinks and his face is suddenly soft, as though his anger has left him. His eyes seem to glaze over and they become unreadable.

"Are you okay?' he asks.

"You should see the other guy," I say with a grin.

Rhovan grimaces a little and I realize my mouth is bleeding. My smile fades but I'm still proud of my victory.

He looks towards Morlyg and laughs. "He definitely got the worst of it."

He then looks back at me with pride. "Nice Job."

At that moment it dawns on me just how much he enjoys instructing me. I am his student and have successfully defeated an opponent more than twice my size and he is proud of me.

"Thanks. It felt good."

"I bet," he replies. "We can talk to him when he wakes up. Then he'll be receiving a punch or two from myself."

"But I already fought him," I say in confusion.

"Yes, you did, but now he has hurt both you and Erebwen," he says in anger. "Besides he needs a shiner on the left eye to match his right one."

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise at his response as his voice takes on a dangerous tone and I smile. We are probably enjoying this moment too much and in the back of my mind I'm starting to feel some guilt. I shove the thoughts away. I want answers.

"Remind me to never make you angry," I say.

"I could say the same to you."

A groan disrupts over conversation as Morlyg slowly comes to.

Rhovan passes me a glance and we pull him up against a tree into a standing position.

"Why have you been hurting Erebwen?" Rhovan asks.

He is calm, which surprises me and his voice has taken on an authoritative tone. He is several inches taller and he stares down at Morlyg, his eyes never wavering and waits for an answer.

Morlyg looks up but seems confused for a moment, rubbing his head back and forth with his hand.

"She told you?" he says nonchalantly. "She never could keep her mouth shut."

His tone his uncaring and I want to punch him again. How could he possible talk about my friend in this manner?

"She didn't have to. The bruises made it obvious. You just couldn't keep your fists by your sides, could you?" he retorts back.

He is still the epitome of calm, which would thoroughly impress me if not for the current situation. I know him well enough to know that underneath his exterior he is full of wrath and rage. Somehow he is managing to keep it hidden.

Usually, I'm the one who is good with hiding emotions, although I've never been good at hiding anger. It always seems to get the best of me.

"What do you want?" Morlyg seethes, ignoring Rhovan's insult.

"I want you to leave her and never see her again," Rhovan says, anger beginning to creep into his voice. His calm exterior is fading now, melting with every word. "Don't touch her, don't look at her, don't even think of her."

"And if I don't?" Morlyg taunts.

Rhovan's fist, quick as lightning smacks into his left eye, giving the shiner he promised.

Morlyg slumps against the tree.

"If you don't, this is what happens. And for every bruise you leave on her, I'll repay you tenfold. We clear?"

Morlyg nods, his confidence gone.

Between the two of us, we've beat him up rather badly. We watch as he scuttles off and we both sit down on the grass, quiet and pondering everything that has happened.

"Well, I guess you've already got your practice in today," Rhovan says, breaking the silence.

I remain quiet but nod my head to acknowledge that I've heard him.

The realization that I just attacked someone and hurt them begins to hit me full force. My anger has receded and guilt has taken its place. My parents would not be proud of me. Well, actually my Mother probably would be. Her Haradrim upbringing always brought out her fighting nature. I suppose she may have passed the trait on to me but I still feel a little guilty for attacking him.

Morlyg has attacked and hurt Erebwen; I have attacked and hurt Morlyg. How am I any better than he is?

"Do you think Erebwen will be mad?" Rhovan asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

I stare at him. I hadn't thought about that. I'd only thought of protecting her and revenge, it had never crossed my mind that she might not be happy about it. Would she be mad that I'd done so?

"I don't know," I answer.

"Maybe we should tell her?" he replies. "Better to hear things from us than Morlyg. He'd probably twist the tale and turn it on us."

I nod in agreement and stand up.

"You're awfully quiet," Rhovan remarks, looking at me with concern.

"We're no better than Morlyg after what we…what I just did to him."

Rhovan points to my cheek.

"He hurt you Narloth and he's been hurting Erebwen for who knows how long. We had cause to do what we did. I agree that we shouldn't have taken it so far but maybe it will help get the message across. We helped Erebwen."

I nod again, trying to believe him but I still feel guilty and I hope that if Erebwen is angry, that she will forgive me.

"Come on," I say. "Let's go see Erebwen."